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Post by Linda on Jan 10, 2021 5:21:49 GMT
finishing making Christmas postcards with the scraps and leftover stickers/die cuts - total of 62 for the nursing home next Christmas. Went through what was left, tossed some, kept a couple of stickers/die cuts, and put the rest in a bag for donation. My Christmas scrapbook drawer closes easily now.
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Post by katlady on Jan 10, 2021 5:38:26 GMT
We did pretty good so far. We did tackle the garage. It didn't take that long. We had done a big declutter about two years ago. We still found a few things to get rid of, and we picked up everything off the garage floor and put it on a shelf. Keeping things off the floor really makes the area look neater. I cleaned out and reorganized my craft area. Got rid of some old supplies. I tried to be ruthless, with minor success. lol. Next week I am going to tackle the hall closet and the shelves in the laundry room. I don't think we've cleaned out the hall closet since we bought the house, many many years ago.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 10, 2021 6:46:30 GMT
finishing making Christmas postcards with the scraps and leftover stickers/die cuts - total of 62 for the nursing home next Christmas. Went through what was left, tossed some, kept a couple of stickers/die cuts, and put the rest in a bag for donation. My Christmas scrapbook drawer closes easily now. Do you make these to send to residents or for residents to send to loved ones? Either way, wonderful!
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Post by dewryce on Jan 10, 2021 6:50:05 GMT
Today was only the second time since March that I had extended time alone in the house. And I used it to purge DS’s toy closet. He had so much stuff in there he didn’t even realize 1/2 of it is missing when he got home from school. 3 huge boxes removed. With such limited time my goal was just to get the stuff out while he was gone and I’ll sort into toss, donate, and take to work(I teach preschool) piles later. There’s also a few things we’re not quite ready to get rid of just yet but have can store it in the basement. I’ve found the tote system works well for me. I’m allowing myself two totes of little kid stuff that I can hold on to. Once those totes are full something has to go if I want to save something else. I also have small totes for things that belonged to my parents, grandparents, etc. Limiting myself to one tote for each parent, etc really helps me narrow down to the truly meaningful stuff. Speaking of totes, I’ve seen it recommend that you don’t keep all of your children’s toys out and in the active play area. Keep their very favorites, and then pack away a chink of them and rotate them out. This way they are not overwhelmed with so many choices, and they said they enjoy playing with them more because they seem more special.
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Post by Linda on Jan 10, 2021 6:57:10 GMT
finishing making Christmas postcards with the scraps and leftover stickers/die cuts - total of 62 for the nursing home next Christmas. Went through what was left, tossed some, kept a couple of stickers/die cuts, and put the rest in a bag for donation. My Christmas scrapbook drawer closes easily now. Do you make these to send to residents or for residents to send to loved ones? Either way, wonderful! I send these to residents - my sister and BIL work for the nursing home his family owns and I'm trying to send a batch (there are 60 beds) several times a year. I write on the back and mail them as a bulk lot and they are distributed by staff to each patient.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 10, 2021 7:08:22 GMT
As far as physically decluttering, we completed our bathroom, and keep going back into the closet to see if we can be motivated to grab even more. Confession: since it didn’t go out last week I have a couple of sweaters I have been taking in and out of the donate box, which I never do anymore. So far the decision is 1 to 1 He should be taking a load that fills the entire middle and back of our Highlander tomorrow. That’ll feel really good. And I’m decluttering the photos and files on my iPad. I have serious memory issues so I have a bad habit of grabbing screen prints of every last thing. Fairly recently I made files so that I could just put them in the appropriate file and not save them to my folders photo at all. But, I got lazy and on top of all the older ones, they started piling up again. I’ve gone through over a thousand of them and that feels great! And I am working on a project for my recipes. We keep very few cookbooks. Instead, I have a favorites binder, a to try binder (composed of recipes ripped from the cookbooks and printed from the Internet), and Pinterest. Those are the only 3 places I have to look for recipes, all organized with the same categories. Makes meal planning a cinch and works very well for us. Last year I purchased Paprika and have been slowly importing/entering our favorites and new favorites as we make them. Well, we eat grilled chicken spinach salad 4-6 nights a week these past many months so it has been taking forever. So I gave myself a deadline of getting them entered by the end of the month and so far that’s motivating me rather than giving me anxiety. So that’s what I have been concentrating on. And, as always, here and there something bothers me and into the donate/trash it goes!
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 10, 2021 11:57:56 GMT
Love this thread! You ladies have made great strides into decluttering!😁
Work schedule has been hectic lately, so I've just been tossing things as I see them (and they irritate me).
I've also made a point in not buying things just to buy them.
I avoided after Christmas sales. Didn't matter if it was 70% or 90% off. Do I need it? Doubt that.
I haven't bought Valentine's decor or photo props. No Easter stuff either.
The amount of product constantly being pushed at consumers has become suffocating to me, in a way it wasn't before. Things are so cheaply made. And made to be nearly instantly disposable.
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Post by atomicdog on Jan 10, 2021 12:09:44 GMT
I'm stuck. I tried to purge mu pile of bags/purses. The first 2 were easy - pitch them. Then I get into the "I could use that" and it dies. This happens 80% of the time on whatever I'm working with. The garage? Ha!! That's funny!
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Post by dewryce on Jan 10, 2021 12:33:07 GMT
I'm stuck. I tried to purge mu pile of bags/purses. The first 2 were easy - pitch them. Then I get into the "I could use that" and it dies. This happens 80% of the time on whatever I'm working with. The garage? Ha!! That's funny! This can be one of my issues. I have gotten much better, but sometimes with certain items that voice wins out. Here are some questions I would ask myself. I could use it, but have I? How many times? When was the last time? Do I have another that I could use instead? Does it go with the style/color of clothing I wear? Does my wallet and other items I carry fit easily in it? Is it in excellent condition? Do I know someone who would love it and use it? If, and that’s a big if, I actually NEED it down the road can I replace it fairly easily? Is it worth the storage space it takes up and, more importantly, how it weighs on me mentally? You could make a deal with yourself. Get rid of these 10 purses that you might use one day for one that you love and will use right now. That helped DH when he had issues getting rid of t-shirts and he did a humongous purge. Hasn’t regretted it once. And funny enough just this past week he didn’t need the motivation but had gotten rid of half a dozen (hideous, tacky, awful) Hawaiian shirts he loved that were too big. So I encouraged him to buy one he loved that fit him now. The next day in the mail he received one from his mom out of the blue! If all else fails, box them up, TAPE THEM SHUT, and wrote a date on them. If you haven’t used them in a certain amount of time (for seasonal fashions I would usually recommend until the end of the appropriate season) then out it goes without even opening the box. The only problem right now is that if you aren’t leaving the home, that won’t work. Unless it’s say, a work purse and you are working. My latest was boxes. I save good boxes for wrapping, and it has come in super handy. For a long time I had one reasonable sized box full I allowed myself to keep but that went by the wayside. This past Christmas I told myself, and DH so he could help hold me accountable, that after I wrapped everything I would go through whatever I didn’t use and get back to my one box of boxes rule. And I did and it felt amazing. Now, might I need a (perfect sized) box someday that I got rid of? Sure, but I can fairly easily replace it. I hope some of that helps. Good luck!
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peaname
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,389
Aug 16, 2014 23:15:53 GMT
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Post by peaname on Jan 10, 2021 12:44:04 GMT
I went through my whole house about two years ago and did a baby declutter which felt monumental at the time. I have a new thought as I tackle it again, which I learned from the minimal mom on YouTube, and it’s, “can I live without this?” So I’m starting a next level declutter!
Yesterday I gifted a brand new Settlers of Catan game, three Christmas related wine gift outfits (a dog body and head, a wine sweater and a pretty cloth bag) and a kitchen science kit. I also need to make a run to goodwill and my town garage.
Keep up the good work, everyone! Your stories inspire me.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 10, 2021 12:51:03 GMT
I went through my whole house about two years ago and did a baby declutter which felt monumental at the time. I have a new thought as I tackle it again, which I learned from the minimal mom on YouTube, and it’s, “can I live without this?” So I’m starting a next level declutter! Yesterday I gifted a brand new Settlers of Catan game, three Christmas related wine gift outfits (a dog body and head, a wine sweater and a pretty cloth bag) and a kitchen science kit. I also need to make a run to goodwill and my town garage. Keep up the good work, everyone! Your stories inspire me. And the more you do it the easier it will be! Is anyone else keeping lists, or keeping track of bags, or photos? Doing before and after shots of areas? We tried to take photos of everything that left the house last year (either donations or to people I know) and a tally of trash bags. And when I needed motivation I looked at them. Not as much as I had hoped, but still quite a lot. I was surprised at the relatively small amount of trash that went out the door. I’m just going to assume it’s a good sign that we don’t hold on to that type of thing anymore
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Post by dewryce on Jan 10, 2021 12:57:33 GMT
I don’t anticipate doing much, if any, decluttering today. Instead I am in the mood to work on my recipe project, and I think I will box and label my ornaments from growing up I got from mom this year. I tend to buy boxes this size in qty from the Container Store so hopefully I have exactly what I need. Then I will think about putting away our sentimental tree. We’re still enjoying it, but we have another one upstairs I’m not taking down yet in my craft room. Waiting on a few ornaments to come in the mail to make sure I’m as in love with them in person as I think I will be. Plus, it’s making me smile ridiculously wide every time I walk in there, it’s peacock themed and loud and somewhat feathery and I love it.
I hope everyone has a productive day to finish off the weekend!
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Post by atomicdog on Jan 10, 2021 13:39:05 GMT
dewryce - thank you for that advice!!! I'm going to revisit those dang purses and see what I can do!! *edited to get the name spelled right!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 26, 2024 21:42:43 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 13:46:38 GMT
My plan is to go through my fabric stash and sell the pieces that I just don't see me ever using. I have soooo much that I really hope it sells... Where do you plan to sell you fabrics? I have a stack of fabrics (decorator and quilting) that I need to get rid of. I've had mixed results on eBay in the past so was wondering if there was a better way. If you're on FB, there's a busy destash group just for fabric: fabric destash for the cray cray
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 26, 2024 21:42:43 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 13:50:44 GMT
Does anyone else have thrift stores closed to donations in their area? We ran into stores being closed to donations last week while cleaning out mom's townhome. That ended up being frustrating. I'm the type who wants the donations gone pronto. I hate the clutter of the donate clutter. Besides the two chain ones, I have two smaller local groups that don't run thrift stores but rather pantries but for clothes and household items. One is well established here (100+ years old) and the other is newer. I found the newer one through next door. Try asking on yours and see if anyone knows of a smaller group that is attached to a church or school. One school near me has opened a small closet for high schoolers to get clothes and school supplies. The student group that runs it will take some basic household items for families they know are in greater need.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 10, 2021 13:54:01 GMT
If you're on FB, there's a busy destash group just for fabric: fabric destash for the cray cray Thank you! I am on FB and will check that out.
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Deleted
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Apr 26, 2024 21:42:43 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 13:58:33 GMT
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 10, 2021 17:30:47 GMT
Okay, so had zero plans to declutter today. Was just going to sit & scrapbook.
But then I saw a cobweb under my shelf that holds albums, and thought "Heck, just a quick vacuum, and I'll scrap."
Nope.
Give a Mouse a Cookie syndrome.
Pulled out all the albums, shelf by shelf. Dusted. Vacuumed. Put everything back.
Looked across room and suddenly, the over the door shoe organizer that I use for toiletries was just an enormous eyesore.
I couldn't unsee how unhappy it made me.
So pulled it down, emptied it. Kept a literal handful of items, tossed everything else, including the dust collecting monstrosity, out.
Washed the full length mirror that was behind it.
Oh yeah, did I tell you it was blocking a mirror? Wonder if I should analyze that some.
So now, room is dusted, vacuumed, more open looking.
I think I can scrapbook now.
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Post by natscraps on Jan 10, 2021 21:51:26 GMT
Give a Mouse a Cookie syndrome. Exactly how my day went. Goal was to pack away the Christmas stuff this morning and then sit down to scrap. Nope. Cleaned out the Christmas stuff. Decluttered two unopened boxes of Christmas stuff from our move 3 years ago. Purged our bookshelf when I went to put the Christmas piano books away. Set up a space with a table for all of DS’s Legos. Laundry. Cleared off my desk in my scrap room to get ready to scrap and then ended up cleaning out the random junk cabinet in the kitchen.
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Post by Jessica on Jan 10, 2021 22:47:37 GMT
I have started the Herculean effort to go through my scrapbooks and reorganize them. I worked at an LSS for many years and made tons of layouts for the store using my pictures but stuff not necessarily my style, etc. I kept all the layouts but I'm looking through some of these and thinking "oh thats the 7th time I've scrapped that picture...I can toss it." Or put all my childhood layouts in a childhood album kind of thing. Yikes.
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Post by freecharlie on Jan 10, 2021 23:36:21 GMT
I decluttered and organized under my bathroom sink today
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,170
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Jan 10, 2021 23:58:49 GMT
I’ve been working on my den since late Friday morning, and it’s pretty much done. It was a horrendous mess as I pulled almost everything out of the closet, and then when I was purging paper. I had a good sized pile to shred that I thought I’d whittle away at over the next few days, but I ended up getting it all done today. In between, while letting the shredder cool down, I paid some bills and cleaned up a couple small areas in the room. I am loving opening a drawer in my desk and being able to see what’s in it. Of course, I did find that I have way more Scotch tape than I knew - something like 18 rolls that had been stashed away out of sight in two drawers. Oops!
I also cleared out three shelves of paperback books from bookcases in the master bedroom, which meant I could shelve most of the hardcovers that were in stacks on the floor. I have that huge box of books and another box of stuff to donate already in the car so I can do that tomorrow when I have to run a couple other errands. And now I want to work on clearing out some other books, so that may be my next fairly fast and easy goal while I think about what I need to do in my craft room.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 11, 2021 0:08:26 GMT
Of course, I did find that I have way more Scotch tape than I knew - something like 18 rolls that had been stashed away out of sight in two drawers. Oops! So when news of a Scotch tape shortage comes out, you will be prepared!
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Post by cecilia on Jan 11, 2021 1:18:08 GMT
I got things to the compost pile and recycling bins and that is about it. Have ebay drafts to finish. I have started getting my 'listed items shelf' organized.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jan 11, 2021 2:10:11 GMT
I was pages behind on reading this thread and just enjoyed a good 'catch up' on everyone's efforts. It's always motivating to read what others are doing.
I did such a hard purge last year when we moved to this house that I'm more in tweaking and maintaining mode now. I just tidied and re-organized the large pantry this week and removed a few things that were taking up too much space for how infrequently they are used. Two of the items went to the basement storage and the third went to the donation box.
Pantries seem need work fairly often. For example, having to reallocate how shelf space is used after a Costco run!
I fussed at the 19 y/o last week for leaving baskets of clean laundry on his floor instead of putting them away. He said his drawers are too full so he just avoids it. As I started saying, "Well then, you need..." he retorted with, "Time to donate! I know, mom." He's out of town for a few days, but we have plans to tackle that this coming week when he is back.
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,328
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Jan 11, 2021 2:20:38 GMT
Both college kids went back to school today so I've just gotten started giving the house a good cleaning. I'll be back at it tomorrow. I also started tossing the leftover snack food that the kids didn't eat and DH & I don't need to eat.
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Post by hockeymom4 on Jan 11, 2021 3:34:56 GMT
We have been working our way through the basement. 2 large bags for charity, 1 large garbage bag... a few piles for specific people (that actually want the stuff)
Have sold about half of what we listed within a few hours
DH is downsizing his home gym (all bought pre Covid) and making a killing.
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Post by fiddlesticks on Jan 11, 2021 3:57:36 GMT
I had grand plans this weekend but then watched news way too much.
Guest room closet is still my first target to complete.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 11, 2021 4:14:02 GMT
LavenderLayoutLady , natscraps and moodyblue y’all are invited over for tea tomorrow, and if you happen to feel like using that mojo here I’d be okay with that hockeymom4 , my DH is buying those items for his gym At least it’s still less expensive than his multiple gym memberships. On the plus side, he had had to take over part of the garage because his room isn’t big enough for all of the equipment and it really motivated him to work on the garage. Had I known that I would have encouraged it years ago! Spongemom Scrappants I am envious of the position you find yourself in and can’t wait to be there myself! We just moved in 12 years ago, I declutter on a regular basis, and still I’m amazed at how much has built up in this fairly short amount of time. Apparently, we need to get a lot better about not bringing things into the house. Jessica , that is a huge undertaking. Do you think you’ll break it up or buckle down and concentrate on that before moving on to the next thing? For me, I love seeing the quick results of focusing my energy, that’s very motivating. But then I sometimes feel like I’ll never get to all of my areas, so a little bit here and there works for me because I know at least I am making some progress. As for me this weekend, I took care of the sentimental ornaments, old and new. Now DH just has to box the tree and another part of Christmas will be put away. And I’ve made decent progress on the recipes. I only need to complete a few a day and I will be able to finish by the end of the month. I’m encouraged that having the deadline set for my goal still isn’t causing anxiety and hope that continues! eta: Still didn’t make the donation trip into town. So right now I am 1 to 1 for my sweater sage. Will they end up taking the trip or will they end up back in my closet?
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Post by cecilia on Jan 11, 2021 4:20:52 GMT
Ended up going through Christmas cards from around 2009/2010. Most were from 2peas. There were some from family, friends, coworkers. Keeping the very personal ones, handmade/photocards. Orginial plan on others was to compost but now not sure. I don't want to toss them in the trash so I may take them with the recycling. Then again I am trying to compost everything I can so they may go to the compost pile.
For this week, I want to:
Go through Christmas cards prior to move in 2018. Take recycling to recycling center (last time we went was day before Thanksgiving) Finish listings shelf List more Get things marked to take to booths Go through craft stuff to list Go through old clothes.
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